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The Tooth Trade

…a child when the kid loses a tooth. Tagliamonte’s son lost his first tooth when he was nearly seven; the parents didn’t know how much to pay, so they asked…



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Episode 632

When Did We All Start Watching Documentaries?

It used to be that making documentary films meant taking a vow of poverty (and obscurity). The streaming revolution changed that. Award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler talks to Stephen Dubner about…

Govt. Puts a Real Crimp on Canadian Dropouts

…keep their kids in school, like this one: Oregon schools offer free cars to entice kids to class Monday, September 18, 2006 Associated Press – Idaho News PHOENIX, Ore. —…




A Low-Cost Way to Target Your Football Enemy

On the football field, as in nearly every arena in life, the punishment doesn’t always fit the crime. James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers has become the poster child for…



$500 not to have an abortion?

…sense to subsidize women who were going to give up babies for adoption? I think maybe it does. There are large numbers of parents who want to adopt, and a…



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Episode 53

The Simple Economics of Saving the Amazon Rainforest

Everyone agrees that massive deforestation is an environmental disaster. But most of the standard solutions — scolding the Brazilians, invoking universal morality — ignore the one solution that might actually…

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Episode 491

Why Is Everyone Moving to Dallas?

When Stephen Dubner learned that Dallas–Fort Worth will soon overtake Chicago as the third-biggest metro area in the U.S., he got on a plane to find out why. Despite getting…



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Episode 600

“If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?”

Tania Tetlow, a former federal prosecutor and now the president of Fordham University, thinks the modern campus could use a dose of old-fashioned values….

How to Make School Lunches Healthier

…pizza is more expensive, and fewer children may want to eat it. Hence many school districts walk a tightrope. School districts must increase the health content of their sales while…



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Episode 84

Mall Cops

Security guards make malls feel safer, but what can they do when there’s trouble? Zachary Crockett observes and reports….


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Episode 457

Is Dialysis a Test Case of Medicare for All?

Kidney failure is such a catastrophic (and expensive) disease that Medicare covers treatment for anyone, regardless of age. Since Medicare reimbursement rates are fairly low, the dialysis industry had to…

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Episode 116

Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better (Update)

Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells Steve why doctors should spend…

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Episode 3

Kerwin Charles: “One Does Not Know Where an Insight Will Come From”

The dean of Yale’s School of Management grew up in a small village in Guyana. During his unlikely journey, he has researched video-gaming habits, communicable disease, and why so many…



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Episode 513

Should Public Transit Be Free? (Update)

It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer: it’s complicated. Also: We talk to…

Winner, Loser, and Marijuana Pepsi

…findings of my academic research with Roland Fryer, which found no impact of a child’s name on her life. Now, from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, we have the story of three…



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Episode 38

The Church of “Scionology”

We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?



How to Get More Out of College

…attendance, but we know little about how these investments shape postsecondary achievement. Two theoretical frameworks suggest diametric conclusions. Some studies operate from a more-is-more perspective in which children use calculated…



The Most Popular Names for British Pets

…on her blog, the pet list overlaps heavily with the same year’s 100 most popular children’s names in England and Wales (a list that differs somewhat from the boys’ name…





Contest: What’s in a Name?

In Freakonomics, we make the argument that a child’s first name doesn’t affect his or her life outcome. I am guessing that most inanimate objects, too, are relatively unaffected by…



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Episode 38

The Church of “Scionology” (Replay)

We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?